• Ecophysiology

Form and function in plants, particularly related to water transport, biomechanics, wood anatomy, and wood quality in forest trees. Current research is asking:
• the extent to which the existing plant morphology has a legacy role in directing how plants respond to current conditions; • whether the negative effects of stem or root pathogens on a plant’s water relations are mitigated by the plant’s morphological changes; • the relationship of tree radial growth rate to wood quality in outer (mature) wood, in healthy Douglas-fir trees and those with a needle cast disease.